NICK DEBUTS IN MIAMI WITH NEW WORLD SYMPHONY
“Tenor Nicholas Phan was unquestionably the afternoon’s star. From the moment he took the New World Center’s stage, Phan exhibited authoritative command of diverse vocal offerings, an engaging personality and a voice that seemed born to sing French opera and song.
In the tradition of Mediterranean tenors of a bygone era, Phan sings with a light, airy timbre and can produce soft high notes in head voice. He also commands a firm lower register and can summon reserves of power when called for.
Saint-Saëns’ “Violins in the Night,” Phan’s opening selection, is based on a poem by Anna de Noailles. The sound of a violin disrupts the night, bringing forth passions that reek below the surface. Phan’s stylistic aplomb and ability to paint a scene were immediately on display...The pop culture references, whimsy and genre mashups of the post World War I French composers’ group Les Six were on display in Francis Poulenc’s Cocardes, a setting of three nonsensical poems by Jean Cocteau…Phan projected the wit and insouciance of Poulenc’s zany melodic splotches…
In 2008 Heggie wrote the song cycle Friendly Persuasions, Homage to Poulenc. With texts by Heggie’s longtime collaborator Gene Scheer, each of the four sections is devoted to a close friend or artistic associate of Poulenc…Phan brought subtlety and clear enunciation to the first three songs and unleashed the full power of his instrument for Poulenc’s wartime trauma…
…Phan concluded the program with Schubert’s “On the River.” Composed in 1828, the final year of Schubert’s life, the song is a homage to Beethoven who died the year before. The funeral march from Beethoven’s Eroica symphony is directly quoted in the song. Phan’s aristocratic phrasing and supple gradations of tone and volume clearly mark him as a master of lieder and song literature.”